Bosses should avoided benchmarking graduates by what grade they achieved at university, it has been suggested.
Companies could be missing out on "well-qualified, very able students" by only recruiting those who achieved a 2.1 or above, Elspeth Farrar, communications director for the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, has said.
According to Ms Farrar, such is the emphasis to achieve the top two degree grades that students are focusing more on their studies than planning their careers for after university.
Employers are "shooting themselves in the foot" by segregating graduates in this way, she warned.
"They [employers] should be putting their emphasis into having trust in their own selection processes and using those to screen out, rather than using benchmarks like firsts or 2.1s," she remarked.
Graduates may find they are facing increased competition for places at top companies, with Income Data Services findings that finance firms are expecting to reduce graduate recruitment by 14.7 per cent this year.
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